yendi

So, after a series of comic misadventures, we (a group of seven, including a large part of 'song's birth family) did not manage to see Sweeney Todd last night. Since we'd driven for half an hour, we weren't going home without spending at least some time in front of a bright screen with moving images on it, so we saw Juno.

Damn, that was good.

Even once you ignore the hype over the media's obsession with Diablo Cody (they haven't had a hard-on this raging for a screenwriter since Quentin Tarantino), the movie itself is actually damned fine. The cast -- led by Ellen Page, who is wonderful when not directed by a hack like Brett Ratner -- is great, with huge roles for J.K. Simmons, Allison Janney, Michael Cera, and Jason Bateman (although the last two never appear together), and fine cameos by Rainn Wilson and Emily Perkins. This is now the second Jason Reitman flick I've seen, and I'm convinced that he's got the potential to be as talented as his father was during the latter's heyday.

The plot itself? Pretty much what you've heard: sixteen-year-old has sex once, gets pregnant, decides to put the baby up for adoption. Lovely, lovely film, with believable characters, witty dialogue, and some nicely emotional moments.

My only mild complaint: the complete lack of punk music in a film about a teenager obsessed with the Stooges.

Otherwise, a great film on every level.

Although Sweeney Todd probably has more viscera*.

*Which is not to imply that Juno is viscera-free; there's a moment in which two characters watch a scene from Herschel Gordon Lewis's The Wizard of Gore. Yay!